Blushing Blue
by jadenanne7
Summary: My late addition to the 2014 Secret Santa, in which The Stewmaker ends up a lot different and I finally get Liz into Red's blue jacket.


This is for sweet Morgan. Merry Late Christmas!

As always, I appreciate reviews and own jack squat.

(A Read and Review spree is in my near future)

Enjoy!

Elizabeth sat motionless in the rickety old wheelchair, waiting for the suffocating heaviness to leave her body. One hour had already passed since Red had promised her that the effects of the drug would dissipate...one hour since Stanley Cornish was pushed into the deadly bath that was meant for her. If Red had shown up any later than he had...

She refused to think about that.

Instead, Elizabeth focused on the sounds of what was going on behind her back. It wasn't pleasant, but it was all she had. Glass clinked against glass and she tried to remember what was held in those little glass jars.

"A dentist with a tooth obsession. That's original." Luli's sharp voice cut into Elizabeth's fuzzy thoughts like a knife.

Oh yeah...teeth.

"Oh, if anyone deserved credit for being original, it was Stanley Cornish." Red's words of praise were underlined with a disgusted severity, and Elizabeth could almost forgive him for saying them. The sound of water sloshing against the side of the tub seemed to echo his thoughts. "I know it's gruesome, Dembe, but try to make sure that there's enough of the poor bastard left to identify. He did have a wife and child, after all."

Elizabeth's stomach lurched at the thought of that horrible man's family having to find out just how horrible he really was. His wife would be beyond devastated, and his son...was his son even old enough to understand?

Sympathy for the child she'd never met flooded through Elizabeth and manifested as tears that pricked the corners of her eyes. She tried to move her arms to wipe them away, but was quickly reminded that she couldn't, and was also reminded of the raw nerves under her collarbone that had been silently begging for attention. Now they were screaming.

A hiss escaped Elizabeth's lips as the fabric of her shirt was shifted over her shoulder. Fingers ghosted around the wound, then traveled to her hair, stroking gently. She didn't need to see Red to know it was him, but she was a little relieved when he appeared in her line of sight.

"I'm so sorry," he said, though he didn't elaborate on what he was sorry for. "I thought you were asleep. You've been so quiet over here." Elizabeth didn't answer, but Red didn't seem perturbed. She tried to avoid his eyes as he knelt in front of her and placed a hand on her knee, but found it impossible. His gaze found hers and stubbornly held it. "I've let Cooper know that we have you, but it's going to take them a while to get here. I hope to be gone by the time that happens." Elizabeth's eyes widened, and panic started to rise, making it hard to breathe. Red squeezed her knee and smiled, and somehow that only added to the panic. "Don't worry so much," Red laughed. "I'm not leaving you here. I have a doctor that can look at that." His eyes cut to her shoulder, and for a fraction of a second, his expression turned to stone.

After Elizabeth was certain that her captor was dead, she had been quite alright when her voice decided to hide from her. There was nothing she could say to help the situation, so why chance making it worse? But when the word 'doctor' came out of Red's mouth...her voice came out of hiding.

"No."

"Lizzie, I'm not going to..."

"That's right!" Elizabeth cut Red off, vehemence dripping from every word. "You're not. You're going to let the FBI find me, and you are going to let them take me to the hospital." Her fingers twitched slightly, a small outlet for the panic and frustration that had nowhere else to go.

"It will be quicker and easier for me to take you..."

"Nowhere," Elizabeth interrupted again, emboldened by the twitching in her toes. The sedative was wearing off. "You'll take me nowhere. Unless it's home. Take me home."

Red sighed, but not in defeat. Never in defeat. "I can't do that."

The pain under Elizabeth's collarbone intensified as she tried to square her shoulders in defiance. She tried anyway. "I want to go home."

"No."

"I want Tom."

That was the truth. Elizabeth wanted her husband in the worst way. She wanted him to hold her and kiss her and tell her that the monster was gone forever...but Tom couldn't do that. As far as he would be concerned, she was injured on the job. Tom would never know just how close she came to becoming literally nothing.

"No." Red's voice was strangely apologetic, and it pissed Elizabeth off to no end. Using her knee as leverage, Red rose from his kneeing position on the floor. She half expected him to pace the floor, but he simply stood in front of her, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'm going home, wether you take me there or not," Elizabeth threatened, wigging her toes inside her shoes. She wondered just how long it would take for her legs to become mobile again.

Red smiled softly, the infuriating sympathy once again present in his eyes. "Tell you what...I'm not completely without reason. I'll make you a deal. You do one thing for me, and I'll take you home myself."

What could she possibly do for him?

Elizabeth found herself nodding once in agreement, knowing it was her only option, and curious to hear what Red had to say.

Red gave her a short nod in return, shoving his hands into his pockets, a sure sign that he didn't know what else to do with them. "Raise your right arm above your head."

Really?

"Excuse me?"

Red rolled his eyes slightly and gestured to her arms. "You heard me. Raise it high, like you're asking for the bathroom pass." He raised his right arm above his head and waved it slightly, bringing it back down before it crossed the line from annoying to obnoxious. Elizabeth crinkled her brow, but siad nothing. Red raised his brows and shrugged. "You're right. I was shooting too high. Let's do this instead. Lift your leg up off the ground. Just give me one foot and I'll take you home."

Whateve possessed Elizabeth to try was beyond her, but she felt her toes tingling with excited effort. She threw every ounce of energy she could summon into her left leg, and was actually surprised when it lifted. She grinned triumphantly, t the grin faded when her foot stopped just short of twelve inches and then dropped back to the ground.

"It's exhausting, isn't it?" Red asked as he lifted her foot back onto the stirrup. "Trying so hard?"

Finding it easier to look anywhere but Red's eyes, Elizabeth let her head fall back against the wheelchair and stared at the wall of the eerie cabin. "You have no idea."

"You'd be surprised," Red said under his breath as he made his way behind the wheelchair. Elizabeth felt every bump in the floor as he wheeled her to the door, and it wasn't lost on her that Dembe and Luli stood shoulder to shoulder in the doorway that led to whatever was left of Stanley Cornish, blocking her view. She smiled gratefully and Luli smiled back.

The night air hit Elizabeth hard now that adrenaline wasn't pumping through her veins. She shivered as goosebumps traveled up her arms and across the back of her neck. The wheelchair that had been soldiering through the gravel towards the car stopped abruptly, and she felt herself being pushed forward slightly in the chair. A welcome weight fell across her shoulders, and she immediately fell back into it.

"Blue is definitely your color."

Elizabeth looked down and fought the urge to giggle. She was swimming in Red's blue jacket. It was warmer than it looked, and she blushed at Red's satisfied chuckle when she weakly pulled it tighter against her.

Red stopped the chair in front of the car and Elizabeth vaguely wondered if she could make it into the car without giving him the satisfaction of helping her.

She should have known better.

Before she could place one foot on the ground, Elizabeth was lifted from the chair and into Red's arms. "This is not necessary," she complained as Red kicked the chair hard, sending it down the hill with vicious glee.

"It is entirely necessary. For me, anyway..."

Elizabeth's arms tightened instictively around Red's neck as he leaned over to place her in the car, and she could swear his pale cheeks gained a bit of color, though not as much as hers did when he leaned over her to fasten her seatbelt.

Like a child.

Her thoughts were anything but childlike when his hand squeezed her thigh in a reassuring gesture.

It was a bit of a surprise when Red crossed to the other side of the back seat and settled in beside her. She had maybe expected Luli to...but Luli called shotgun and Dembe climbed behind the wheel. Not a word was spoken as the car pulled away from the cabin of horrors and onto the equally creepy dirt road. It was eerily quiet, and even though Elizabeth knew she was safe, she didn't feel safe. The bump of the tires over the uneven ground was too familiar. She may as well have been back in the trunk of the Stewmaker's car... Hot tears fell on her hands before she even realized she was crying.

A strong arm fell confidently around her shoulders as Red silently pulled her ito his side. When had he moved over?

"You don't have to coddle me," Elizabeth admonished, even as she let her head fall against his shoulder.

Red's grip tightened slightly. "You think this is coddling?" he said into her ear. "Wait til I get you home and tucked into bed with a hot water bottle."

Elizabeth giggled in spite of herself, but it morphed into a strangled sob.

She hated herself for it.

She was supposed to be a strong woman, not a wimpering little girl looking for a hand to hold. It was over. The danger had passed, but the fear had not. Neither had the pain. The pain in her collarbone only increased as the sedation were away. If it weren't for her pride she would have begged Dembe to drive faster, to get her to Red's doctor as soon as possible...

"Can't you go any faster?" Red locked eyes with Dembe inn the rearview mirror, his demand hidden in the form of a question. "Agent Keen is starting to look a little pale."

The engine made a loud, whirring noise as Dembe's foot turned to lead. Elizabeth sighed gratefully through the pain, and over the pain came a sensation much more pressing. Exhaustion. She moved deeper into Red's side and he immediately accomodated, turning into her slightly and pulling her to his chest. Lips pressed against her hair, and words washed over her as sleep tried to claim her.

It's all over now.

The monster is gone.

It's going to be okay.

It was a promise she never forgot.


End file.
